OTTAWA COUNTY — The Ottawa County Finance and Administration Board approved several staffing requests Tuesday. That includes starting discussions two months ago about extensive well and septic tank inspections.
Committee members Gretchen Cosby, Roger Belknap, Joe Moss, Rebecca Curran, and Kendra Wenzel unanimously approved initial approval for an administrative assistant position in the Environmental Health Division of the Ottawa County Department of Public Health. , and decided to send the position to the full board. Final approval next week.
OCDPH officials first requested the position in early March, saying it would oversee administrative staff and help inspect wells and septic tanks and process permit applications. On March 5, the Finance Committee instead forwarded its position to the Health and Human Services Committee, initiating a larger discussion on the possibility of privatizing inspections to ease OCDPH's workload.
OCDPH's Spencer Ballard said Tuesday that the position is paid with state funds and there is no charge to the general fund. He added that he arrived at this position after talking with his boss to “get the most out of my money.”
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Mr Moss indicated on Tuesday that the possibility of privatization would be discussed further at this month's Health and Human Services meeting, scheduled for May 21.
Well sales and septic tank inspections are now done by county staff, a system that has been in place for 40 years. It was formed at the request of real estate agents who wanted a neutral political party.
At the March 19 meeting, Administrative Health Officer Adaline Hambly said there are three possible routes for the county. Either leave the system as is, open up point-of-sale inspections to private inspectors, or let private inspectors do all the inspections.
Interim County Governor John Anderson said at a health and human services meeting last month that discussions about testing were in the preliminary stages.
The Finance Committee also gave the initial OK to a small number of positions in the county's appraisal department. These positions will support a new assessment contract with Georgetown Township that was also approved Tuesday.
Georgetown Township will be the sixth municipality in the county to contract with the county to evaluate services, said Equalization Director Brian Buescher. But additional staffing is needed because Georgetown Township has more land parcels than the other five districts combined, he said.
“This more than doubles our valuation department,” Buescher said.
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Additional staff includes one assistant evaluator, four evaluators at various levels, and a summary indexer. This position is funded by a four-year evaluation agreement with Georgetown Township.
Additional positions with the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office were also given preliminary approval Tuesday. The new Transportation and Assets Coordinator position will be a civilian position, and vehicle and equipment management responsibilities are now split between the captain, sergeant, and administrative staff.
Undersheriff Eric DeBoer said Capt. Dave Vanderploeg's retirement caused OCSO to re-evaluate the responsibilities assigned to the role.
— Contact reporter Mitchell Boatman at mboatman@hollandsentinel.com.
